XOXO
by Useless-Materia
Summary: A series of ShikaIno One-Shots based off different themes: Seduction, Marriage, Ino-Shika-Cho, a Bar...
1. Seduction

This is the first of a set of one-shots I'll be doing. They'll be like To Dance with Her and Stumble, but all collected here, and themed under kissing, or whatever else I come up with.

So! Let me know what you think - good or bad!

Chapter 1

Seduction

"It takes a lot of experience for a girl to kiss like a beginner."

~ Ladies Home Journal, 1948

"I think I'd be good at it."

"At what, Ino?"

"At a seduction mission."

"Hn. I'm sure you would."

It was official. Shikamaru was ignoring her. Here she was, looking gorgeous as all get-out stretched out across the couch in his office as he prepared a mission strategy that could, let's face it, definitely wait until he didn't have a _gorgeous-as-all-get-out woman sprawled across the couch in his office_.

Harumph.

She'd sort of thought he'd be all over her. _She _wanted to be all over him, after all.

They had just started dating a few weeks prior, and though things had certainly changed between them, Ino found herself frustrated at how slowly things were actually progressing. Sure, he'd kiss her goodnight now, and when she reached out to hold his hand, he grasped hers firmly back. And yeah, he'd taken her out on two dates so far, so really she didn't have a reason to complain. Except she wanted more than that. And she wanted him to want more than that too.

Unfortunately, her boyfriend was acting like a perfect gentleman. But sitting in his office, waiting for him to notice her, Ino decided she was done waiting on that lazy man to initiate anything.

"You'd be okay with that, Shikamaru? Sometimes I'd have to kiss them, you know."

"Yeah, Ino. I know what a seduction mission is."

His lack of jealousy was equally annoying.

"I'd have a sleeping serum, or even poison, in a seal on my lips of course. But they wouldn't know that."

"Nn. Of course."

"But it's not like you just walk up to a guy and kiss him. It's way more than that."

He didn't even look up from his paperwork as he replied, completely monotone, "Seems to me that'd do the trick."

"Of course, not, Shikamaru! A seduction _ends_ with a kiss- you've got to have a good lead-up."

"You've never done one – how would you know?"

Ino fell silent for a few moments, holding back her remark as heat simmered under the surface of her skin. She knew her face gave her intentions and feelings away, and if Shikamaru would have looked up he would have known he was in trouble.

But the poor boy was fixated on work. And that proved twice-over his downfall.

_I can seduce a man, Shikamaru._

"Perhaps you're right."

To his credit, Shikamaru sensed something was off in Ino's easy surrender. He looked up in time to see his new girlfriend arch backwards over the arm of the sofa to stretch, her shirt riding up and exposing her stomach just a little. Not that he'd never seen her stomach before – obviously her ninja outfit made him and everyone else privy to way more than just that little sliver. But that fact did nothing to prevent the jolt of warmth that shot through him.

He'd rather wished she hadn't tagged along to "help him do paperwork." Now that they were dating there was no reason for him not to look, not to think the things he'd pushed back for so long. But he'd still wanted to take things slow – after all, she was a long-time friend, and incredibly important person in his life. And this was a big change. He didn't want to rush her.

Yet they hadn't gotten a lot of time together lately, he'd been so busy. So who was he to say no to his old friend and new girlfriend when she'd turned those dreamy eyes up at him and asked to stay late in his office while he worked?

But now she was standing and coming over to his desk. He couldn't help but eye her warily. Was he about to get yelled at? Nagged? Whined at? Was she going to keep going on about seduction missions? Whatever it was, it was going to interrupt his work.

What she did was perch herself quietly on the edge of his desk, those long creamy legs crossed, one tall blue stiletto pointing towards the door.

He looked up at her suspiciously.

"Sorry, Shika. I'm just a little bored, to be honest." He sighed and nodded.

"I know. Sorry I gotta do this. I told you it wouldn't be much fun."

She smiled and reached out to run her finger slowly along the collar of his vest. Even though she wasn't touching _him,_ the nearness of her almost made him shiver. Almost.

"It's okay. I don't mind. I like spending time with you." And she smiled at him so shyly, so bashfully honest that he couldn't help smiling back, just a little bit.

"Would you mind telling me what you're doing?"

He sighed again. 'No' was so difficult with her.

"You see this map?" She leaned over towards him, just slightly, to look down at what he was pointing at, and all of a sudden all of his upper-level brain functions shut down, all because of the two inches of cleavage that was suddenly only five inches away from his eye line. His gaze shooting up to her face to see if she'd caught him staring, he found her eyes meeting his.

"What's it a map of?" He cleared his throat and continued.

"It's where I'm planning the next attack on the missing ninjas. If we can lure them to this clearing from upriver…"

Shikamaru trailed off. The thin, tied strap of her blue shirt had just fallen off her shoulder. The shoulder right in front of him – the arm she was leaning all her weigh on as she leaned over his desk, eyes cast down on his work. Time seemed to crawl in slow motion as she turned her gaze to her shoulder, reached her other hand across her body, and slowly pulled it back up into place with those long dexterous fingers of hers. Noticing his pause, she switched her gaze back down at him;

"Then what, Shika?" There was nothing abnormal about her tone. Nothing. Was he reading too much into it then that she seemed quietly eager? Maybe even a tad breathy? Or was she doing this on purpose? Her proximity was doing funny things to his head…

Ino swore inwardly. She almost blew it there; put too much behind her words. She was so sure Shikamaru was going to catch on too soon. He was too smart for anything but the most careful approach. She couldn't be that transparent, not if she wanted to make him think it was his idea.

She waited with baited breath, not daring to break eye contact. When it was going on a bit too long – when she knew he was over-analyzing, she creased her eyebrows and leaned forward just the slightest bit. Under the guise of getting a better look at him, she oh-so-subtlety pushed her boobs together, pouted her glossy lips, and lacing her voice with concern, she said,

"Shika? You seem tired, maybe you should go to bed…" and reached a hand out to gently brush his forehead with her fingertips.

Her touch startled him back into the real world. Sort of. Clearly he needed to get a hold of himself. Though Ino's ample chest was certainly not helping.

He didn't get it. She'd worn far more revealing clothing than a plain blue tank top before. But maybe it was the simple allure of it. Or the hinting at the unknown. Or maybe it was just the fact that his girlfriend was ridiculously sexy and he'd only kissed her, and nothing more. Speaking of kissing her...

_Stop thinking such dirty thoughts while she's sitting right next to you trying to listen to your crappy fragmented sentences._

"I'm fine. Sorry. If we can lead them to the clearing then we can ambush them here and here."

He pointed at two entrances on opposite sides of the clearing.

"Oh, I see!" Ino had turned her attention back to the map when he had, and she slowly uncrossed and re-crossed her legs to face him, one calf brushing against his thigh as she adjusted to better reach the map.

"So you're using a team here to prevent them from escaping through the tree tops?" and she pointed at something on the map. But Shikamaru was busy dealing with the rush of adrenalin that had shot straight to his core as she bounced her leg up and down slightly, her stiletto hanging off her toes as she played a balancing act, continuing to periodically brush his thigh with that shoe.

The excitement was written on her face too as she examined his plan: "Oh! And you're using a special ops team back here to loop their own numbers back in on each other! Shikamaru, that's so brilliant!"

He looked at her dumbly.

"Yeah. That's the plan." She smiled at him coyly and said,

"How'd I get such a smart boyfriend?"

_How'd I get such an arousing girlfriend?_

Suddenly her shoe fell to the floor with a thud and she jumped slightly at the noise. Her bare foot brushed against his leg again as she went to hop off the desk to retrieve it.

"I'll get it, Ino." And her eyes went wide.

"Oh. Thank you, Shikamaru!"

Bending down in his chair, he knew what he was doing was stupid and counterproductive to work, to taking it slow, to _everything_. But he couldn't help himself. Her legs went on for miles, and as he straightened up, shoe in one hand, he reached out and gently grasped her ankle, moving it to slide her shoe slowly back onto her foot.

"Shika…" Her voice was breathy and his heart was pounding. Her shoe on, he still held her foot in his hands and took a deep breath.

He didn't look up at her, but his thumb traced slow circles over the skin of her ankle. The sensation was amazingly intimate, and Ino didn't bother suppressing her shudder.

"You know, Ino." His voice was low and thoughtful, all business and boredom dropped. Good, good, just a little more…

"Yes, Shikamaru?" She hadn't meant for her voice to hitch on his name, but it worked out all for the best, she decided, when his hands stilled in response, for just a second.

"You are the most distracting woman in the world."

Well. It wasn't a confession of undying love, or even lust. But Ino knew that with Shikamaru, his declarations of affection were often litotes – under-expressions of what he really meant. So she waited.

And she was rewarded as one of those strong hands began a slow climb up her leg, fingers brushing delicately across her skin.

"All I wanted was to finish my preparations for the ambush. To maybe get it done early enough that I could get some decent sleep tonight. And then maybe tomorrow I wouldn't be so tired from work that when I had a day off, I could take you someplace."

At this, she actually felt guilty.

"You… you were going to take me someplace?" He still didn't meet her gaze, but traced intricate patterns across the top of her knee.

"I was. But it looks like this isn't going to get done as quickly as I thought." His knuckles were now caressing her thigh, and it was getting hard to breathe. This is what she wanted! She wanted him to touch her, to want her, to view her with lust. But it seemed there was a small measure of guilt – having him take her somewhere tomorrow would have been wonderful.

But she'd set herself to this path, and she'd just make sure tonight was wonderful instead. So she licked her lips and said, in her most apologetic voice,

"Oh. Shika. I'm so sorry. I'll leave – I'll let you finish your work."

And she went to get off his desk and go.

As if he'd let her leave now.

His hand held her leg firmly to the desk, and he allowed himself a second to enjoy the contrast of his darker skin on her pale thigh.

"You're not going anywhere."

She looked up at him with big wide eyes and he almost couldn't take it.

"I… I thought you said you wanted –"

"What I want has… changed." He stood from his chair to tower over her, leaning in, one hand still on her thigh, the other bearing his weight and blocking her from getting up.

"Shika…maru? What… what do you want now, then?" Her breathy voice made his heart race and he slid his hand up, just a bit further, and leaned in, just a bit more, his face less than an inch from hers.

"It's like I told you, Ino. You are… distracting... And I want to be distracted." As he spoke, his lips grazed hers the slightest, tiniest bit and it sent a jolt of pleasure through him. He was right there, less than a millimeter away, holding back because the anticipation was a delicious ache that he couldn't help but savor. And oh, a normal kiss wouldn't do. Not right now. Not with her.

"Shikamaru… you want me?" The way she mumbled his name, eyes nearly shut, hands crawling up to rest flat on his chest, something heavy in her voice – it was going to undo him. Her heart was pounding. Or maybe that was his. And then her tongue darted out to lick her lips and brushed against his own. He couldn't hold out anymore.

"God, Ino, all the time." The sentence was barely out of his mouth before he brought his lips fully against hers with a moan. She was instantly tilting her head up and kissing him back.

He deepened the kiss immediately as her hands traveled hungrily up to grab his lapels, and he could feel the heat, even through his heavy vest, as she pulled him towards her to stand between her legs. The full-body contact left him with the lingering sensation that he'd been brushed by lighting.

And Shikamaru had never thought about his kissing abilities before – if he was good, or bad, or otherwise. But Ino's soft moans and breathy sighs filled him with a burning sense of accomplishment. Though he had little room in his head for smugness, what with all the elation such sounds of hers elicited in him. And with all the kissing, of course.

For her part, she was a demanding kisser, the sort of woman who left a man standing dazed and dumb by the time she was done: her soft lips working over his own, her tongue colliding with his... he couldn't stop the groan that tore itself from his throat. He nipped at her lips, running his tongue over them and sliding his hand up to slide into her hair.

"Ino, you are…" he barely stopped the kiss to mutter against her lips.

"Yeah?" She breathily replied to him, hands cupping his face, fingertips in his hair.

"You're going to be the end of me."

Suddenly his office door slammed open and sent the two of them leaping apart. Tsunade stood in the doorway with fire in her eyes.

"Shikamaru! Ino! What the hell are you doing in here?" Shikamaru balked, scrambling for something to say, when Tsunade changed her mind, and held out her hand.

"Never mind. Why did I even ask? Don't you even _dare _start explaining. I don't want to know!"

The hokage eyed them suspicious for a second and then continued in a calmer tone: "This is not the place for… _this._ Ino, work on that somewhere that isn't a public building. And Shikamaru, boink your girlfriend on your own time."

And she slammed the door and left. It was all very sudden. Like a whirlwind had swept through his office, destroyed the mood and opened his lust-addled eyes.

"Whew! That was close, huh, Shikamaru? I thought she'd be much madder!" But Shikamaru barely heard her.

Work on that? When Tsunade told Ino to "work on that in your own time," she must have been talking about Ino's seduction techniques. Ino herself had just been going on and on about wanting to try them. This whole thing... she _did_ do it all on purpose! And here he thought he'd been losing his grip.

He couldn't tell if his gut was telling him to be angry or hurt, and while trying to conceal just how much he was feeling both, he turned to look at his flushed girlfriend.

Ino ran her hand down her boyfriend's arm and reached up to pull him close again, but suddenly she could feel it in the way his muscles tensed; Shikamaru's mood had altered; as he slowly turned to look at her, she could see that his calculating look was back.

"You planned this." _Crap._

She blinked up at him for a few moments and decided to go for the truth.

"So? _You_ _said_ I had no idea how to seduce a man. And seeing as how you're the one man I actually _want _to seduce, I don't see the harm."

He sighed heavily and went to stand up straight, but she grabbed him by the collar before he could.

She could feel the heat in her face, knew her lips were swollen from his demanding kiss, and could tell the strap of her shirt had fallen off again. Breathing hard, chest heaving, she prayed that she looked as disheveled, ravishable, and _honest_ as she felt: she locked her gaze with his and said,

"Don't leave. Please. I wasn't lying; I only did it because... because I want you too." And she licked her lips and pouted slightly.

His glare was wavering.

"Ino, I had a lot of work to do."

"…I'm sorry... I just... I want to _be_ with you." And at her vulnerable admission, he cracked the barest ghost of a smile.

"Yeah, that's all fine and good, but now I'm going to be up all night." But there was no fight in his words, and she knew he had forgiven her.

"Shika. Don't leave me out." And she gently pushed him backwards into his chair and slowly climbed on top of him, straddling his waist and running her fingertips down his chest. "_We. _Are going to be up all night."

And she leaned down and kissed him soundly, with a lot of lust, but also with a lot of love. It was less than a second later that his arms wrapped around her and pulled her against him.

And mumbling against her lips, he said,

"Distracting woman. Tch. Yeah, you better believe we are."

Ino smiled against his lips and congratulated herself. Mission: Accomplished.


	2. Marriage

Chapter 2

Theme: Marriage

_"I can express no kinder sign of love, than this kind kiss."_

Shakespeare, Henry VI Act I Scene I

* * *

When he heard sniffling coming from the empty parlor, he knew he'd found her.

He rapped gently on the door and the sniffling paused. Her voice sounded wet and miserable as she asked, "Who's there?"

"Shikamaru. Can I come in?"

Even from behind the heavy door, he could still hear the panic in her voice as she replied, "Shikamaru, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to see me in my dress!"

He scoffed lightly, and said, "That'd be the first time ever that you aren't begging me to look at a new dress."

Through another sob, she protested, "I'm serious! It's bad luck and I don't need anything else to go wrong today." He sighed heavily and leaned against the door frame.

"Well I'm serious too." He went to rake a hand through his hair, before remembering that he ought not screw it up. Letting his hand fall to his side, he said, "Ino, if you're crying, I gotta fix it. Especially today. And I'm pretty sure not doing that would be way worse luck than seeing your dress an hour before I'm supposed to…"

Tradition didn't mean much to him, but it meant a lot to Ino. So he took a deep breath and added, "But if you'd rather, we can talk like this."

There was a low sniffle, and he could just picture her trying to delicately wipe her nose with a tissue. Because he knew better than to think Ino went in there without a box of tissues. Despite everything he couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Shikaaa… That was so sweet. Why do you always make me smile when I'm the saddest?"

"That's sorta part of the job, isn't it?"

He could hear genuine affection in her voice, as she said "Well… thanks for taking on the job."

He slid to the floor and rested his back against the door.

"Well I'm not done yet. So why don't you tell me why you're crying."

He could sense her chakra move, accompanied by the rustling of heavy fabric, and he knew that she'd gotten up to come and sit against the other side of the door, same as he was. She took a big shaky breath and in a huge rush, said,

"It's just that… the florist mixed up my order with some tasteless harpy and so I'm stuck with bright orange tiger lilies instead of the purple roses and white calla lilies that match my bridesmaid dresses and the truck with _my _flowers in it is stuck in traffic somewhere, so there might not be any flowers at the wedding at all because I'm _certainly _not using the orange ones. I _knew _we just shoulda used our shop, but dad said this would be better than me running around like a crazy person trying to get my own order together. How is this better?! This is not better! Orange and purple, Shikamaru! Yuck!" Her hysterical indignation was carried through her tone very well, and in his mind's eye, Ino was sitting on the floor, red-faced and crying, with her nose in the air about the audacity of orange flowers.

"And then some little kid comes running through the _women's_ dressing area, trying to help with the flower crisis and steps on my veil and tears it. My veil, Shikamaru! It was the one my mother wore! And now instead of having a cathedral-length veil, they'll have to cut it to waltz length. Which doesn't sound like a big deal, I _know_, but it was my _mother's_, Shika! I've been waiting to wear it forever and it was how she was going to be with me on my wedding day and now I've let it get ripped!"

He could hear her begin to sob again, and wished she wasn't so stubborn as to keep him on the outside. Usually when she got like this, he'd just hold her until she stopped. That was something he'd learned the hard way with girls (i.e. Ino): sometimes they don't want you solving their problems. They just want to be held. Granted, this was a bit worse than usual...

But she regained control once more and with only light hiccuping, picked up her story.

"All of that was manageable enough, but then, while I'm trying to get my veil fixed, talk to the florist on the phone, and get put into my dress all at the same time, my aunt Tsukio bursts into my dressing room and starts yelling at me." A dull thud reverberated through the door, and he knew that Ino had thumped her head against it.

"You know how she and my dad's sister hate each other? Well somehow the place settings got mixed up and they're going to have to sit by each other at the reception and I _told _the wedding planner that they were supposed to be on opposite sides of the room, but they're not, and _this is why I can't trust that woman with things like my flowers_!" She took a deep breath to get her anger under control. "Anyway, aunt Tsukio came in and screamed at me and said I didn't know what I was doing and I was ungrateful for her presence and– "

Shikamaru interrupted her: "Are you telling me someone really yelled at you at _your _wedding? Troublesome..." The last part he grumbled to himself.

He couldn't believe the audacity of some people. The whole chaos that surrounded a wedding almost completely buried the point of the event in the first place, if you asked him. But girls went crazy when it came to weddings and Ino was no exception. She'd been dreaming about her wedding since she was a little girl – he knew first-hand. And if it made Ino happy, that was good enough for him. As far as he was concerned, his job was to ask for her hand, show up for the ceremony, and make sure she was happy throughout the process; he didn't really care if they got married in a barn.

But seriously? Who yells at a bride on her wedding day? He didn't care _who_ it was - Shikamaru had a few things to say to this "aunt Tsukio." Well, really more like one thing…

"Yes! She burst in and started yelling! And I just… I just… I didn't want to cry in front of her but the more I tried not to, the harder it became to stop, and I _knew _I was ruining my makeup, but I couldn't help that either and so I had to get away, and now here I am, sitting in a big dark, empty room on my wedding day feeling sorry for myself because this was _supposed_ to be the happiest day of my life!"

With that she broke back down into sobs. And Shikamaru tried to figure out how to fix that through a door.

So it wasn't what she'd hoped for. And yeah, there was no small bit of bride-crazy in that rant, but he had to admit: Ino'd had a damn rough day. But maybe that was all the more reason to bring it back to the basics.

"Ino. It's our wedding day."

She sighed tiredly, and it occurred to him that she'd picked up this mannerism from him. "I know that, Shikamaru, it's just how girls are, we just take possession that way. I know it's your day too."

"That's not what I meant. Yeah, it's our day, but I meant more that it's our _wedding_ day. The day we wed."

"I know what wedding means." she grumbled halfheartedly through the door.

"It _means," _he began, in a low, level voice, "that no matter what horrible things happen or don't happen, at the end of the day, Ino, you know what _is_ going to happen?"

He waited, and in between her deep breaths and sniffs, she whispered reverently, "We're gonna be married."

He couldn't stop the grin as he agreed. "Yeah. I'm going to be your husband. And you're going to be my wife. And we're going to be married." He heard the hitch in her breath.

"You know I love you, right?"

Very quietly, he heard, "I know."

"And I hope you know that orange flowers won't change that, your mean aunt won't change that, and your mother will be with you today even if that veil bursts into flames. I know that doesn't fix the problems, but maybe–"

He was interrupted by the long, low creaking sound of the door he was leaning against being pulled open. Turning halfway around where he sat, he saw his bride-to-be, standing before him in yards and yards of lacy white fabric, hair piled elegantly on top of her head and eyes puffy and black-rimmed from crying her mascara off.

Shikamaru stood slowly, and as he rose up to tower above her, her eyes never left his.

"Ino… you look…" She blushed and spun back and forth a bit, her billowy skirts swishing around her.

"Do you… do you like my dress? I know I've messed my face all up – it looks ugly right now, but-" He reached out and brushed his knuckles across her cheek and very matter-of-factly told her,

"Ino, I've known you our whole lives. And I've never once found you ugly." She held his gaze and slid her hand up to cup his face. He smiled and leaned into her touch. "And I wouldn't dare start now – especially not when you're wearing your new dress."

She whispered, almost too quietly to hear, "This is a special dress. I'll only wear this once, you know."

He nodded against her hand and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Nn. It's a very special dress."

She cocked her head to the side coyly and said, "You look really handsome in your tux, Shika."

Shikamaru could admit that standing there with her, both of them dressed in once-in-a-lifetime clothes, he felt completely overwhelmed. Something clenched around his heart at her smile, and the feeling that this was very much a beginning clogged his throat. The words weren't there to express: they often weren't. But Ino understood him without them, and so he hoped she'd understand him now as he turned his head to kiss her palm and said, "You look so beautiful, Ino."

She grinned at him shyly. "Just now, behind the door, when you said all of those things… You made me really happy. And I love you too, you know."

He stepped forward and said, "I do."

And they both felt the gravity and premonition as he leaned down and softly kissed his future wife. Her lips tasted like tears, but she smiled against his mouth and cupped his cheek with her other hand as well. And Shikamaru was pretty sure he'd done his job correctly.

When they broke apart, he reached down to take her hand and began leading her back to her dressing room.

"I'll talk to your aunt for you, Ino. There's no excuse for her behavior." She smiled up at him, trying to wipe some of the black smudges from around her eyes.

"Thank you, Shika. For everything."

Suddenly from around the corner, Sakura bounded towards them.

"Oh you found her, thank goodness!" Grabbing Ino's other hand with hers, she said, "Come on, let's get you ready to be married!"

And Shikamaru let go of her hand slowly, and Ino let herself be dragged off by her best friend.

She looked over her shoulder and said to him quietly, "I'll see you at the altar."

Sticking his hands in his pockets, he grinned at her as she was being led away while still trying to face him: "I'll be waiting for you."

Satisfied and happy, she grinned and turned back around, letting Sakura drag her away; Shikamaru then turned and headed towards the groom's dressing room, a small smile glued to his face. As the two girls walked off, he heard Sakura say,

"I can't believe you let him see you in your dress before the ceremony! That's bad luck, Ino!"

But Ino scoffed and said, "Sakura, I have _Shikamaru._ I don't need luck."

* * *

A/N: Check out my profile for pictures of Ino's wedding dress if you're curious what I pictured her wearing.

The theme was marriage, and though I took it in more of a _wedding_ direction, it was supposed to focus on the fact that weddings are meant to start a marriage, not _just _be a wedding. Anyway. Hope you liked it.

More to come soon!


	3. The Breaking of InoShikaCho

Welp. Here we go. Sidebar: the flashback scene may disappear if I decide it's unnecessary. I'm leaning that way. Nobody likes a boatload of exposition anyway, right? Besides, this chapter is not about what happened, it's about what's going to happen. So enjoy!

Chapter 3

Theme: Breakage of Ino-Shika-Cho

"_There's nothing so defiant as a first kiss. It's telling loneliness that you've made other plans."_

Anon.

Of all the predicaments in the world, Ino was sure hers and Shikamaru's was the dumbest.

For weeks it had been this quiet, controlled storm of potential energy wasted on silence and space – ever since their fathers had expressed a deep-seeded disapproval of them as, well, as a _them_.

She should have known better, known something was coming. It was too good to be true. But even Shikamaru admitted to walking into that meeting blind to their true intentions.

_"We've heard rumors that you two have been... getting closer."_

_"Is it true?" Her father leaned in, glaring down at Shikamaru._

_Shikamaru didn't even bat an eye as he said, "Is what true, sir?"_

_Her father frowned and replied, "Is it true that you're interested in my daughter?"_

_Her face went red at that point, and she tried to protest: "Daddy!"_

_But her father was in one of those very rare moods, and Ino knew she had no control. "Not now, Ino. Shikamaru?"_

_In a very steady voice Shikamaru said, "Yes, sir. It is." And her heart pounded with exhilaration. To declare it so boldly to her father! They had been dancing around each other for a while now, and she had told Sakura she was certain he was going to ask her soon. Certainly her dad was just trying to intimidate the boy into behaving, like he'd done with every boy that had ever asked her out._

_But to her surprise, her father's look became very grave. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a frown etched into the weather-worn lines of his face; _

_"Have you asked her out yet, son?" Shikaku's voice was as somber as her father's._

_Shikamaru turned towards his father and calmly said, "Not yet. But I was going to." The butterflies in her stomach made it hard to breathe. He looked so manly, sitting there staring bravely up at their fathers. But something ominous was in the air and the Nara's living room was heavy with a sense of unease. Shikaku sighed, broad shoulders sagging, and shook his head._

_Glancing around for some kind of clue, Ino noticed Shikamaru's mother peeking in from the doorway of the kitchen. Yoshino's eyes met hers and the pity that blazed there was a blow to the stomach. If_ Yoshino_ was powerless to do anything, then that meant... _

_Ino suddenly knew what was heading for her like an oncoming train and she was powerless to stop it._

_"We should have done this earlier. Before you two started getting any ideas."_

_"We just think it best to nip this in the bud."_

_"Ino-Shika-Cho is about teamwork and legacy."_

_"It's about a bond bigger than your own desires."_

_"We can't allow that bond to be broken over some... misguided teenage feelings."_

_Everything was white noise as she'd sat on that sofa, back straight as an arrow. The urge to scream rose up in her like bile, and she'd heard nothing else they'd said._

_This wasn't misguided teenage feelings. This was real. Shikamaru was... they were supposed to be... This... this wasn't happening._

_Searching for a single thought to hold on to, she grasped briefly at an itching curiosity about how Shikamaru was taking this; but she'd felt too sick to look anywhere but straight ahead. Everything that followed was a blur - a ninja's duty, a team obligation, a responsibility to themselves... their father's droned on as Ino's heart sunk._

_When she and her dad finally got ready to go, she walked stiffly to the door, where her father grabbed her hand and dragged her off down the street. Glancing behind her, she saw Shikamaru standing in the doorway, but couldn't tell what he was thinking at all. She turned back around to hide her tears and follow her father home._

_She'd screamed and cried and ranted all night, but nothing changed her father's mind. And everything had ended before it had even begun._

So now, they did all the things they were meant to do, without any of the actions they wanted to take. They trained, they hung out with Chouji, they took on missions, but closeness was prohibited, and talking was done as if someone could be listening at all times.

In this particular moment of adjacent separation, they were walking down the street on the way to the store, because Ino needed more soy sauce and Shikamaru had offered to walk with her. Since the forbiddance, there were so few solitary seconds for the two of them; so these manufactured moments would have to do.

She walked slowly.

It was a bit like _Romeo and Juliet_, she thought, though with an unpleasant, ironic twist. If irony meant that their families were _too_ close for them to be together, rather than on opposing sides. Was that what irony was? If so, irony sucked.

The boy next to her wore his frustration better than she, and she didn't know whether to be grateful that at least one of them was keeping it together or irritated at his control.

Walking side by side, their fingers almost touched, but not quite; he was both a thousand miles away from her and yet so close she was suffocating with the untapped possibility of it all. It was, in a word, unfair. Ino wanted to shout and scream and cry, but she'd done all of that and it had gotten her nowhere. So she simply sighed heavily for what must have been the umpteenth time that afternoon; Shikamaru looked down at her, expression nearly neutral.

"You've picked that up from me." His tone was straightforward, was _always_ straightforward, but Ino took the liberty of mentally peppering it with all of the unspoken desires that laced their situation.

They were so close, and they were not. She felt strangled by his simultaneous sweetness and nothingness and so, only choked out an, "Nn," in reply. Certainly a response she'd also picked up from him.

"Well maybe if the two of us sigh enough, they'll retract their order." He was trying to make her feel better, she knew. Was it working? She wasn't sure; everything these days made her feel like she was stuck running in place – trying and never getting anywhere. Every good feeling, every semi-sweet moment between them was tarnished by the fact that it wasn't enough to bring the edict down and, despite all it attempted to be, it could never be more than it was: a shadow of a real gesture. A _joke_.

They didn't talk about it often, because there were so few times to do so. But now... why not now?

"I've liked you for a long time, you know. Do they care?" The statement tumbled from her lips clumsily and urgently, and now there it was, sprawled out before them, awaiting a response.

His eyebrows creased together and for a split second she saw something strong written across his face. But he looked away before she could read it.

"They care about something bigger than that."

Stumbling begat more stumbling and for Ino, the avalanche was the next logical sentence structure.

"What is bigger than that, Shikamaru? We could _be_ something, and have something – something they both have, except ours would be even stronger! _Because _we're teammates! _Because_ of that bond they claim to cherish so much!"

He still didn't look at her, and he shoved his hands into his pockets.

"But they're saying that it would end if we did that. That there would be no more Ino-Shika-Cho, if we were to get…" His sentence trickled off at the implication of them being married. But that idea just reminded her of how far from real sharing and a real relationship this was. And he'd just defended their fathers' argument.

"Are you on their side?" There was a rising nausea of resentment stirring inside of her, ready to leap up and overcome her better senses if he abandoned her now. His even tone had her fearing the worst.

"It's more like I see why their side won't budge." At his words she felt hot and frail and foolish, and she couldn't help the edge of panic that crept into every syllable:

"You rationalizing their cause will not help ours. It is _ours_, isn't it?"

He was so eternally calm and still. As though this wasn't making a mangled mess of his insides like it was hers.

"Tch. You know the answer to that." _Look at me! This is breaking my heart, so don't be so calm! _

Ino sucked back those words; instead she bit out, "Do I?" with a venom that surprised her. She was pretty sure it surprised him too.

"You're spitting fire at the wrong person…" He'd stopped walking. "_Ino,_ I…" The way her name fell from his lips felt like a sudden caress - the most intimate sound he'd ever uttered to her - it was as though a million wants had been forced into two syllables.

She could feel herself quiver all the way down to her bones. It was then that Shikamaru faced her, stepping in front of her and causing her to nearly run into him. Brief contact itself was enough to stumble over these days.

His eyes were so open and his look was so suddenly genuine – exactly what she'd been dying for a moment prior. But _sudden_ was too much to handle – she felt like she was being singed. _Oh, foolish little girl. You're scared of the things you want most._

"Stop. Whatever fragment of comfort you're trying to offer, just don't. All it will feel like is a shadow of what we should be allowed to do, but aren't." So she was still angry. And a little self-destructive. She couldn't help herself. Ah, and that was the problem from the start, wasn't it?

But her Shikamaru knew her, and it was as though he was brushing off the layer of dust that bitterness had built up on her ability to emote - ignoring the rusty hinges on her attempts at intimacy. Because he didn't close up, despite her best _(worst)_ efforts.

He merely said, "Ino, if we want to beat this, we have to work together."

"_I'm_ not the one turning." He ignored her final, useless barb, and she was endlessly grateful for it.

"If we can understand where they are attacking from, then we can undermine and defeat it. This is just like a battle."

"Dating is like a battle, Shikamaru?" She folded her arms across her chest and raised a skeptical eyebrow. But his eyes were warm and his gaze was gentle as he said,

"How could it be any different, with you?" And Shikamaru was officially the first to blatantly break the rules of their decree, as he reached out and tenderly brushed her bangs out of her face. She closed her eyes for a moment as his hand lingered longer than necessary by her cheekbone, fingers lightly grazing her skin.

Her venom abated and she sighed all fears out peacefully at his touch.

"To tell the truth, I don't care about the future of Ino-Shika-Cho. I only care about… about the present Ino-Shika." She opened her eyes to steadily meet his own. And now, though she held his gaze with defiance, it was a defiance not meant for him. And though his look was grave, it was not directed at her.

"I think they know that. Ino, to beat this, to beat them, we must show them that we don't feel that way: that we can still hold the team in the highest of our regards." She nodded, ever so slightly, not wanting to scare away his touch too soon.

But the tension was building at their taboo - at the pressure of standing still in an embrace - and at its height, they broke apart almost simultaneously, lest anyone see, and began walking once more.

The silence carried on for less than a minute in real-time (equivalent to and an hour in reminiscing time). But eventually she picked up her complaint as though there were no gap.

"Well that's all fine and good, but _really_ they don't want the combining of the clans because they don't want the loss of either family technique in the balance of the team. There has to be three. They only care about how it affects the next generation." Shikamaru was right, and so she tried to look at the root of their predicament analytically - to _help._

Anyone but her might have missed the fleeting ghost of a smile that tugged at the corner of his mouth as he said, "Exactly. So we'll just have to have two children."

"Shika…" It was her turn to stop walking, heart pounding wildly against her ribcage. He too stopped, but didn't turn around.

"I'm not saying now. Or even soon. But there are… ways to ensure the future of Ino-Shika-Cho and make everyone happy. And besides…" He turned to face her, but his eyes remained fixated on the sky. She felt the weight of his impending words in his preparation, long before he said it.

"I've liked you… for a really long time, too." _This is real._

Like a flower waiting for the spring, a change overcame Ino at his words. She could practically feel her doubts melting away like snow in sunlight. And as she spoke, her confidence grew:

"We can do this, Shikamaru. We'll make them see. We'll convince them our love is real and they won't be able to say no!"

At her outburst, Shikamaru's eyes went wide. Ino realized what she'd said and appropriately turned bright red. He opened his mouth to comment, but for Ino, it was a good ten minutes before he actually spoke.

And when he finally did, all he said was,

"Love?"

At which she very nearly swallowed her own tongue. She began walking again at a much swifter pace, brushing right past him, eyes determinedly facing forward.

"Don't read too much into that. Let's just get on down to the store so we can-" But suddenly his hand was around her wrist, and as gently as you please, he'd pulled her to a stop and turned her around to face him. _Oh my..._

There was lightheartedness dancing in his deep brown eyes, though his tone, as per usual, remained neutral.

"How troublesome. You read way too much into every nuance of what people say and do, so you can't tell me whether or not I'm allowed to read into this." His hand was still wrapped around her wrist and she could feel her own pulse racing beneath his fingers. And her Shikamaru, who was nothing right now, but everything always, leaned in and kissed her softly. And her world split open.

But it was over just as suddenly, and he had already turned around and started walking by the time her brain caught up. So brief - the whole thing orchestrated as if to escape perception.

Inside she was humming.

Standing there, stunned, her fingers went up to brush against her lips, and she could feel the flush beneath her skin from sheer exhilaration.

But he turned halfway back around, a smirk on his face, and said, "Oi. Ino. Are you coming?"

_Yes._

And she ran after him.

Welp. There's that. Hope I did the theme justice. Also, thanks everyone for your comments! Please review and let me know what you think. One of my big concerns is that I spell it out for my readers too much. I must be like the Bard and trust them to infer the meaning of metaphor on their own! Anyway, tell me what you think of that, and also if you think the flashback could be removed.

PLUS! Stay tuned for more soon!


	4. The Bar

A/N: So this was an experiment in writing a couple things:

A.) A semi-drunk Shikamaru. I wanted to see him with lowered inhibitions, to see him stumbling around in that brilliant mind of his – slow for him, but still faster than most people.

B.) A Shikamaru who hadn't found his calling as a ninja yet. Despite his complaints of the lifestyle, I don't think he would have been happy doing anything else. So I wanted to write that lost person, searching for something that made him feel alive. But that is only a backstory.

C.) A femme fatal Ino who saves Shikamaru's butt. And an Ino who could see the potential in Shikamaru even when he doesn't see it himself.

Anywho, let's see what you think! Definitely rated T.

* * *

Chapter 4

Theme: Alcohol, a Bar, or a Party

"You can't look away, try as you might;  
her gaze like a rocket, her lips dynamite."

Five beers deep and I wish I hadn't come. But to be fair, that's not the beer's fault; the regret was born the second I left my apartment and was dragged by my best friend to what could easily be considered the sketchiest bar in town.

Not that I am an expert on sketch. But if I had to rank this dive on a scale of one to sketchy, it hits a solid 9.5 – the half point away only because no one has thrown up around me yet.

Throwing back the rest of my cheap beer, I watched as Chouji talked to Hinata a few yards away. She's a girl in our class that Chouji thinks I'd really hit it off with. He's most likely talking me up to her as we speak. How troublesome.

"…highest IQ score in decades…" I make out a few of his words over the thump-thump-thump of the music, and now I'm certain he's talking me up. It's probably not possible to roll my eyes as hard as this would warrant.

I know he has my best interests at heart, and Hinata is an amazing girl – if a little shy for my taste. But I didn't want to come here, and I certainly don't appreciate the emasculating idea of having to have someone else do all of my talking to women for me. That, however, has never stopped Chouji from trying.

I turn to the bartender to get another beer (maybe _six_ beers deep will turn this place into a good time) when I see her across the dingy room.

A platinum blond with the longest legs I have ever seen is perched on a barstool, cocktail on the table in front of her. Her silver dress rides up her thighs slightly, and her matching silver heels look like they could kill a man.

One long finger is playing with the condensation on her drink and by everything that is decent I can't stop staring at her.

She is riveting.

Ice blue eyes suddenly catch mine and _holy crap she is looking at me_. In an underwhelming display of manliness I choke on my beer. Coughing and sputtering, my heart flip-flops when I see her giggle.

"Hey! Shikamaru, you remember Hinata, don't you?" Chouji is suddenly there next to me and I rip my gaze away in a flash like a guilty child.

"What? Oh, hey." There they are, and Hinata is smiling up at me shyly.

"It's n-nice to see you again, S-Shikamaru-san." Her awkwardness should be adorable, and for any right-minded man, it would be. But my mind is swimming with visions of silver and platinum and blue - and I think I'm paranoid that they can both tell.

"Hey, Hinata. Uh, you can just call me Shikamaru. If you want, I mean."

I started this conversation on an already-awkward note and apparently have no plans to turn back now. She blushes and looks at her feet. Either Chouji is an amazing wingman, or she's feeling as awkward as I am. I'm gonna take that genius brain of mine and bet on the later.

"Shikamaru, Hinata has to take Calc. 3 next semester. I told her you were a great tutor."

The best that can be said is that Chouji certainly means well in his eternal attempt to get me a girlfriend. And he's not a _bad_ wingman. So I should probably give this poor girl a chance. I take a giant gulp of my beer and smile.

"Yeah. If you need help, I guess I'm the guy to ask." I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly, and grinned at her the best I could. Five and a half beers is more than I thought.

Chouji gives me a half smile, as if to say, "That's the best you've got?" I try to shoot him a withering glare without Hinata seeing.

He just pats me on the back and says, "He's being modest. Shikamaru is the best you're going to find. Why, he passed that course with flying colors, and most of the time, he was sleeping in class! Not that he's a slacker – well he is – but he's just bored."

I find myself not as irritated as I should be with a comment that's certain to put a girl off, as well as a bit of a personal attack… and also a little too truthful. But it just doesn't phase me in the way it's supposed to. So what if I find academics boring? So what if math is too easy? Does that sound cocky? Maybe to be safe, I'd better roll my eyes at his comment.

And that's when I see her again, out of the corner of my eye, talking to some meat head.

Great. It figures a girl that stunning has some big, beefy boyfriend. Well, it's not like I ever thought anything would happen anyway: that would be setting the bar way too high. But still, no need for my fantasy to be dashed before my eyes, come on.

Chouji pats me on the back again, jerking me back to the conversation that is practically going on without me, and says, "I'm going to go get another beer. See you guys in a bit." I know he won't be back. He's done this before – with Tenten, Temari, and even once with some girl named Tayuya that he thought would be a good idea.

Chouji always seems to be "looking out for me" in the girl department, but finding them in places like this really didn't seem like the best idea. Tayuya had been a disaster.

But I can't deny I was just looking at a girl here.

And Hinata wasn't a bar girl, really. She was a girl in one of our classes. Plus it's not like that platinum-headed girl is even in my league.

So I turn back to Hinata, who is really quite pretty as she blushes, looks at the floor, and tells me she's a nursing major at Konoha University.

I find myself telling her – admitting – that I still don't know what I want to do yet. But she smiles and says I have plenty of time. Which isn't true, but she's nice to pretend.

Maybe tonight doesn't have to be so bad.

So I spend another beer and a half talking with Hinata. It's pleasant, albeit hard in this loud bar.

And yet, somehow, an hour or so later (if my internal clock is any judge at all), an indignant "No!" cuts through the throbbing music and the soft tones of Hinata's voice.

I look up, instinctively searching for the source without realizing it. My eyes find her again. The meathead is grabbing her arm and yanking her off the stool. She's clearly irritated and doesn't want to go. But he's pulling her towards the back door and those tall heels aren't getting her any traction.

A twisting in my gut that feels like more than too much beer has me putting my glass down on the bar harder than necessary and stepping down from my stool.

Hinata asks me what's wrong, but I barely hear it.

"Sorry – I gotta go… help." My words are barely coherent; the majority of my focus is on the back exit and turning over possible scenarios in my mind.

I make my way across the room, shoving against the throngs of drunk dancers, trying to follow the path the girl was taken. Chouji intercepts me near the door and grabs my arm. I shrug it off.

"Dude, what gives?"

"Sorry, I gotta go – that girl was just dragged out back." Is there guilt that my answer makes more sense to Chouji than poor Hinata? Or have I just become more focused?

Either way, I brush past him before I can hear any more. It's been too long since she disappeared behind the exit sign, and who knows what can happen in a sketchy alley in the span of moments. Possibilities flutter through my mind like a pages blowing in the wind until my chest is constricting with the idea that I may be too late to help.

My heart in my throat, I get to the door and slam it open.

And it's just in time to catch a punch with my face.

.

Everything goes dark for a second, and I barely register a gasp and a loud crack as I try to hold my head together. Stumbling, I fall to one knee. The noise from the bar is still making my ears ring (or was that the punch to the skull?) and it takes a second for the scene to slide into focus.

When my vision blurs back in, she's towering above me, her eyes filled with worry. She stands there like some sort of warrior woman, and behind her, on the ground, unconscious, is the muscle that dragged her out here, blood trickling from his forehead.

It occurs to me in some sort of off-handed way that makes me think I've jarred a part of my brain loose that this vixen and Hinata are two very different types of woman.

I feel like an idiot when I say, "Are you alright?"

She gracefully kneels in one quick motion, and takes my head in her hands.

"I am so sorry! I- oh my goodness, never mind me, are you alright?!" Her big blue eyes blink at me; I'm already seeing stars, and her face this close does nothing to help my addled brain gain perspective.

"Yeah. Troublesome... My head is broken, but other than that, I think I'm fine." Am I funny? I don't think so. She sighs and holds out her hands.

"Can you stand?" Reaching out and taking both, I heft myself to my feet. Everything is still spinning, and my head is throbbing. I also get the added bonus of knowing I looked like an idiot just now in front of the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

But she's smiling at me now and my blood feels like molasses.

"I saw you staring at me inside."

Whoa, Shikamaru, you gotta wake up.

"I…" Don't choke on your own tongue now, buddy. "I was worried when I saw him drag you out here."

Her teeth are as perfect as the rest of her, and her grin is overwhelming.

"That is really, really sweet." I _tch_ in the back of my throat, because it could not be more obvious that my help was not necessary. But her smile lingers on me anyway, and she reaches a hand up to my head, where the blow fell. I expect to flinch away from the pain of her touch, but it doesn't come. Instead, I feel a warm, soothing balm as her fingers gently graze my temple. Dizzy, I stumble backwards just a step.

Dizzy, dizzy, nothing but dizzy since I laid eyes on this chick.

"I…" she just smiles at me coyly and stoops down to riffle through the guy's jacket. For a second, I think she's stealing his wallet, and I don't know how to file this away with the image of her I've already concocted.

When the only thing she pulls out is a folded-up piece of paper, it's like a puzzle falling into place that spells out how stupid I actually am. I've spent too much time staring at those long legs to notice the blood on the heel of her shoe; to notice that my head doesn't hurt nearly as much as it did a second ago; to realize that she knocked that brick wall of a man out in one hit. The math slowly adds up and I feel like the slowest person alive as I say,

"You're a kunoichi." She looks up at me and that curtain of blond hair fans across her back. Her lips shine in the moonlight and I feel both faint and suddenly alert all at once.

She stands again and walks towards me slowly.

I'd take a step back if I thought it would actually help protect me. Or if I could even pretend I didn't want her coming closer. A kunoichi… everything about that idea makes me feel alive. I should be worried, scared, on-edge. But it's like this woman has suddenly become sexier than ever. She's close enough now that I can smell her lilac perfume, and she looks up at me under these impossibly long eyelashes.

"You're quick." I certainly don't feel quick. But there's a note of respect in her voice and if I didn't know better I'd think there was a hint of arousal there as well.

"So you planned this, then." I think I'm talking just to keep her around at this point. If I were being logical, I'd want away from any imminent danger. But I'm betting that she is a Konoha ninja, and not a spy. After all, she's still here. And she just healed my head.

But more importantly, just being in her proximity is more intoxicating than being with any girl Chouji had ever tried to set me up with – and just the way her lips quirk up in the corner is more stimulating than any conversation I'd ever had on any date I'd ever been on.

"Well, not the part where you got punched in the head, but yes. This was a mission. A seduction… of sorts." She turns to look back at the unconscious man on the ground and says, "But some guys don't want to _get_. They want to _take_. It's all about knowing men."

I can't help the sneer that pulls at my lips. "Real men don't need to force women. Only shitheads take."

She turns back to me, her eyes dancing in the glow of the street lamp. "You're not like that though. You're a real white knight." I scoff again, but don't look away, and neither does she.

The fleeting thought that she is as bewitched by me as I am by her flickers hopefully across my mind.

"Believe me. I've done a hundred of these bait-and-switches. And never has a handsome stranger come to my rescue… Until now, that is." Her assessment is overly generous, but with the wonder in her eyes and sudden smoky sound of her voice, I won't complain.

She shifts her weight, and the shimmery silver dress slides across her skin like mercury. I itch to run my fingers over it… _under_ it.

She only begins to step closer.

"What's your name, White Knight?" Who am I kidding? I can't even keep my eyes off of her, and I certainly can't keep my hands off. The second her chest brushes against mine, they slide across her dress to grip hips.

She lifts her own hands to cup my face, eyes filled with fascination as she runs her thumb across my lips. Against her hand, I growl out, "Shikamaru," and the shock of this sudden intimacy is making me heady.

Her bangs obscure one of her eyes as she looks up at me, and I feel like I'm reeling for a second. Stupid beer. Ah, but we can't blame the beer for those eyes.

"Well, Shikamaru, heroes should always be rewarded, don't you think?" And she sounds breathy, her voice heavy with want.

The _logical_ Shikamaru is screaming that she's quite possibly faking and that this is dangerous and stupid. But drunk Shikamaru says, whatever, that guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

"Depends. Are _you_ going to reward me, Miss…"

"Ino. Just Ino."

"How were you planning on rewarding me, Ino?"

And she just grins this feral grin that sets my blood boiling. Standing on her tip toes, in those impossibly high shoes, she crashes her mouth against mine.

Oh, but it is good. Are there words for this? Her tongue, her everything – sends a tingling feeling racing through me, as though I am numb to everything but her kiss and her hands in my hair. I can't seem to touch her enough – to hold her closely enough, to kiss her enough.

She tears herself away as the backdoor slams open again, slips from my grasp like a wisp. Which is a faster response time than I can even dream of right now.

"Shikamaru?" Oh great. So here's the cavalry.

"Shit." She mumbles under her breath, and I can tell an assessing look when it consumes her face. Her cover isn't supposed to be blown like this, certainly.

"Ch-Chouji-" And then Hinata pokes her head out behind my best friend, who's standing there, holding the door open and probably trying to figure out what to think. And even though it takes longer than usual, things seems to slow down and my head clears; Ino is in trouble if I don't act fast.

"Hey guys." I have to act relaxed, not rattle off explanations like bullets, as if I – we – have something to hide.

"Shikamaru, what happened?" Chouji is looking from me, to Ino, to the guy on the ground, and then back to Ino again. (Who could blame him?)

"I told you. I saw her get dragged out here by that jerk, and I followed." Hinata was staring at me with the widest eyes I'd ever seen.

"Y-you kn-knocked him out?" Yeah, that part didn't seem so likely.

"It was lucky, I guess. He had his back to the door, and I just hit him over the head." I look over at Ino. She's looking at me with amazement, and I can't tell if she's faking or not.

"It was amazing! If you hadn't been here - if you hadn't come, that… that thug was going to… to…" And then she lets out a wrenching sob that shocks me with its vulnerability.

Damn this woman is good. And Chouji and Hinata have gone from disbelief to sympathy in the span of a second. I step towards her hesitantly, and put a hand on her back. She immediately leans in against my chest, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt, sniffling occasionally.

"Wow, way to go, Shikamaru. It was lucky you saw that across the bar." And Chouji just has to throw in a wink for good measure. I hope to hell I'm not blushing.

I try not to look at Hinata as I say, "So I figured I ought to take her home and make sure she gets there safe. I don't think it's a good idea to leave her alone."

Hinata nods at me, and it crosses my mind that there's a solid chance she thinks I'm nuts and is more than happy to get the hell out of here. Chouji puts a hand between her shoulders and steers her back inside as he says, "Yeah. That's a good idea, man. Be safe." But he grins at me in a way that kinda makes me want to hit him for so accurately guessing my feelings.

The second the door slams, Ino straightens up and untangles herself from my mock-embrace, walking off and picking up her purse. I let out a breathe I didn't realize I was holding.

"Shit. _Come on_, Ino. That was dumb. I can't believe I let that happen." She's berating herself and I am being unequivocally sketchy as I stare at her backside.

"But you!" When she whirls around to face me, I'm positive I turn bright red. She stares at me and doesn't seem to notice. "You saved my ass again!"

I stumble over my own tongue trying to find something to say that _doesn't_ have to do with her ass, but she continues: "I was supposed to get in and get out – be gone a half an hour ago." She smirks and lowers her chin, gazing at me through her eyelashes.

"But then mid-mission, you show up, full of chivalry and... and _sexiness_. And I completely forgot… to get… going…" She's walking towards me slowly and I can hardly breathe. _I'm sexy_?

"And then you covered for me _again_." She bites her lip and the silence feels like a coil being wound tighter and tighter…

And then she reaches out her hand and grabs my collar. She practically talking to herself and she smooths out my shirt, but I don't really care, what with her hands on me. I hardly dare to move, least I break this spell. "I've already broken so many ninja codes tonight, and nothing _that_ bad has happened. And they do say a girl should take time for herself every once in a while…"

Then she looks up into my eyes, my guts tie themselves in knots, and she says words that melt my insides.

"Shikamaru, I think you'd better… _take me_ _home_."

And a thousand thoughts rush through my head: is this a good idea? What do you mean is this a good idea - look at her! But is this appropriate? She's drunk (no, she's sober –_you're _drunk) – you're not looking for a one-night-stand (who says it has to be?) –

But she leans in and bits my earlobe, and priorities shift. Further.

"Let's go."

* * *

It's later, when I'm kissing her against the door to my place that she says, "If anyone asks?"

I grunt my reply against the soft skin of her neck and respond, "I had no idea you were a ninja."

She runs her hands up under my shirt and purrs, "Good boy…"

* * *

It's while under me on the mattress when this gorgeous vixen smiles against my ear and whispers, "You'd make a good one, you know? A ninja, I mean." And I smile, enjoying the genuineness of her comment, mentally trying on the idea for a moment, and liking the fit.

But there are far more important things to focus on right now, and so I turn my head to sear my lips against hers. And we don't talk about anything else for a long while.

* * *

But later still, against the cooling pillows she whispers, "Have you ever thought about becoming one?"

I boldly wrap my arms around this woman I just met and pull her against me. And into her hair I sigh, "I am now."

* * *

A/N: One of these days I'm just going to bite the damn bullet and write an actual lemon. In the meantime I'll just hide behind my citrus-flavored stories.

I think this is a fun little set of one-shots. As for themes, I'm still open to suggestions. And as always, let me know what you think!


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